Bangladesh hopeful of Mehidy Hasan return for must-win Afghanistan clash

Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons is banking on the return of all-rounder Mehidy Hasan to lift his side for a must-win encounter against Afghanistan in the ongoing ODI tri-nation series in Sharjah on October 21.

Mehidy on the mend after fever

Mehidy missed Bangladesh's opening game against Zimbabwe — a 99-run defeat — after being laid low by fever. The all-rounder stepped out of his hotel room for the first time since the Test series against Afghanistan and attended a practice session in Abu Dhabi on Monday, October 19, raising hopes he could feature against Afghanistan.

“Yeah, it's great to see him as he had been in bed for the last couple days struggling,” Simmons said. “He's still not fully there but hopefully with today and tomorrow he can get some more rest and be ready for the next game.”

Further blow as Das ruled out

Bangladesh suffered another setback ahead of the tournament when regular captain Litton Das was ruled out of the ODI tri-nation series after failing a fitness test ahead of the Zimbabwe game. With Mehidy also absent in the opener, the Tigers were short on both experience and all-round balance.

Simmons shrugs off Zimbabwe defeat

Simmons, however, is not dwelling on the opening loss to Zimbabwe, describing it as a bad day at the office rather than a reflection of the team's form.

“The energy is still good. We had a nice meeting this morning and put things on the table like what we did and we didn't do well and we know what we have to do now,” Simmons said. “It's not like we've been playing bad, we've been playing very good. We had a day where nothing really went well, so we know how to come back from that. So we're going to work today and prepare ourselves mentally over the next couple days so we'll be ready for that next game.”

Reflecting on the batting collapse against Zimbabwe, Simmons said Bangladesh failed to assess the situation after a promising start.

“When we batted, we just lacked the understanding of the situation and knowing that with a start like that, we just had to make sure we bat for the 50 overs and we'd have won the game,” he said. “So just a few little points here and there, but things that add up and you lose the game. So we know that that's the small points we have to make sure that we take control of.”

Tamim meeting downplayed

Hours after the defeat, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal held a lengthy meeting with the players and team management in the dressing room that continued late into the night. Reports suggested Tamim was unhappy with the team's direction and expressed his displeasure in strong terms, but Simmons offered a different reading of the president's message.

“The message [from Tamim] is to keep working hard, keep trying to make sure and understand that we're representing Bangladesh and we're representing how many millions of people and everybody's looking for us to be successful and I think that was the main message from him,” Simmons said.